Where are the rulers of Britain buried? This is a direct look at where you’ll be able to discover the burial places of the rulers of Britain since the 7th century. In a few cases, subtle elements of the monarch’s burial plot are limited or nonexistent, and we are cleared out to figure out where they were buried. In most cases, but not all, you’ll be able to visit the burial place, despite the fact that in some cases the burial place does not exist. Any list of English rulers is open to some interpretation; what do we characterize as ‘England’?
Most history specialists would likely propose that Athelstan was the primary lord of a sensibly bound-together English kingdom. But that would be cruel to exclude Alfred the Awesome from our list! So what follows isn’t entirely characterized by what is presently Britain and incorporates a few prior territorial rulers for whom the burial place is known.
Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire
The most punctual rulers in this direct line are buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. That’s not surprising when you consider that the cathedral was established in Advertisement 642. It was not a cathedral, to begin with, but was rapidly raised to cathedral status. And further, it was the foremost critical church in Saxon Britain. Nowadays, we think of Westminster Nunnery as the foremost vital church within the domain. Further, the Convent was not built until 400, a long time after the cathedral church at Winchester.
The most punctual known king to be buried at Winchester is Cynegils, d. 643, but the most celebrated is William II, the son of William the Vanquisher, who kicked the bucket in a chasing ‘accident’ within the New Forest in 1100 (he was likely killed).
One of Winchester Cathedral’s prize possessions is a group of funeral home chests customarily said to contain the bones of early rulers of Wessex and Britain, among them Cygnelis, Cenwalh, Egbert of Wessex, Athelwulf, Eadred, Eadwig, Cnut, and Harthacnut. There’s no way of deciding with supreme certainty in the event that the tradition is rectified, but the bones have been carbon-dated to the late Saxon period, which suggests that the convention may be genuine.
- Cynegils, d.643
- Cenwalh, d.672
- Egbert of Wessex, d. 839
- Athelwulf, d. 855 (originally buried at St. Andrew’s Church, Steyning)
- Eadred, d. 955
- Eadwig, d. 959
- Cnut the Awesome, d. 1035
- Harthacnut, d. 1042
- William II, d. 1100
- St. Bartholomew’s Church/HHyde Convent, Winchester
Hyde Abbey
Here we enter the domain of theory. We do know that Alfred the Extraordinary, his spouse, and children, counting his coordinate beneficiary Edward the Elder, were buried at the Benedictine religious community of Hyde Abbey, promptly outside the Winchester city walls. The Convention recommends that the regal family be interred at St. Bartholomew’s Church, which served as a lay people’s church for the convent.
The illustrious graves were discovered in 1788 amid the development of a jail. After the jail was torn down, a nearby student of history uncovered bones that he claimed belonged to Lord Alfred. The vicar of St. Bartholomew’s Church accepted the story, and ‘King Alfred’ was reinterred within the church. Shockingly, an examination afterward demonstrated that the assumed king’s bones really dated to the 13th century.
So, what happened to the remains of Alfred and Edward the Senior? An archaeological investigation in 1999 revealed bones at the convent location. A chunk of pelvic bone was dated to the right time period. May this be the final remains of Alfred the Awesome? We essentially don’t know, in spite of the fact that it may be plausible.
Shaftesbury Nunnery
Further, Shaftesbury Convent was established by King Alfred around Advertisement 888, conceivably in thanks for his victory over the Danes. Alfred had built up the invigorated town of Shaftesbury Fair a number of years prior in Advertisement 880 and chosen the modern town as the location for his convent. Alfred’s girl, Aethelgiva (or Aethelgifu), served as the primary Abbess. In Advertisement 978, the body of Lord Edward was brought to Shaftesbury Convent after his killing at Corfe Castle. The killed lord was canonized as Edward the Saint, and gifts from pioneers came to implore at the holy place of St.
Edward made Shaftesbury a wealthy and capable convent. Ruler Cnut kicked the bucket here in 1035 after coming to supplicate at St. Edward’s holy place. In spite of the fact that Cnut’s body was buried at Winchester Cathedral, traditions say that his heart was buried at Shaftesbury Abbey. In the early 20th century, a little casket was uncovered that was said to contain Cnut’s heart. Shaftesbury Abbey was the final English religious community to be stifled by Henry VIII.
- Edward the Martyr, d. Advertisement 978
- Cnut the Extraordinary, d. 1035 (heart as it were)
- Wimborne Minster, Dorset
Wimborne Minster
In the early 8th century, Cuthberga, the sister of King Ina, set up a cloister at what is presently Wimborne Minster. The display minster church stands on the foundations of Cuthberga’s cloister, which was devastated by a Danish strike in 1013. Cuthberga herself was buried here, as was the 10th-century Danish ruler Sifferth. In Advertisement 871, Alfred the Great’s senior brother Ethelred (or Aethelred) was buried at Wimborne Minster. Do not confound this Aethelred with the (in)famous Aethelred the Unready. The minister’s wealthy legacy was perceived in 1318 when Edward II made it regal and impossible to miss; that is, it was under the coordinated control of the ruler instead of the Church.
- Aethelred I, d. Advertisement 871
- Glastonbury Nunnery, Somerset
Glastonbury Nunnery
When it comes to Glastonbury Nunnery, it is difficult to sort legend from truth. The origins of Glastonbury are misplaced in the mists of time, and stories connect it to Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, and tales of King Arthur. Some stories relate it to the enchanted Isle of Avalon, where Arthur was taken for burial. So solid was this convention that in 1191, bones said to be those of King Arthur and Ruler Guinevere were uncovered on the south side of the Woman’s Chapel. In 1278, these relics were reburied by the tall altar in the presence of King Edward I.
The conventional location of Ruler Arthur’s grave is clearly visible amid the Nunnery ruins. It seems likely that the 12th-century friars saw the opportunity to draw more travelers to Glastonbury and concocted the story, but we are on the firmer authentic ground with other royal burials. The Saxon lords Edmund I and Edgar I were buried at Glastonbury, as was Edmund Ironside. Edgar I’s tomb became a goal for medieval pioneers, and he was reburied in an extraordinarily built chapel within the 15th century.
Sherborne Convent, Dorset
Around Advertisement 705 St. Aldhelm established a nunnery at Sherborne, on the location of an existing church. The abbey church served as the cathedral for huge regions of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall until the ministerial office was moved to Salisbury in 1075. It was clearly a place of immense spiritual and political impact during the Saxon period, so it comes as no surprise that two Saxon rulers are buried here. Alfred the Awesome attended Sherborne School, and his brothers Aethelbald and Aethelbert were buried in the Abbey church, though their real grave destinations are obscure.
- Aethelbald, d. 860
- Aethelbert, d. 866
Malmesbury Nunnery, Wiltshire
In 642, the Irish minister Maildulph set up an abbey and school at Malmesbury. One of the primary understudies of Maildulph’s school was Aldhelm, who later served as the primary abbot of an unused Benedictine cloister established at Malmesbury around 671. A few 260 years later, Lord Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, broadened the abbey church and gave the ministers devout relics.
These relics made a difference, turning Malmesbury Nunnery into a destination for pilgrims and guaranteeing the Abbey’s riches and status. When Athelstan passed away in 940, he was buried in the Abbey church. His tomb, topped by a worn representation, still stands in the amazing 12th-century church that supplanted the building he helped build.
- Aethelstan, d. 939
- Perusing Convent, Berkshire
Perusing Nunnery
Reading Convent moreover owes its existence to Henry I, who founded the convent in 1121 and made it one of the foremost and wealthiest religious communities in Britain. Further, Henry’s patronage helped make Reading a center of wealth and political influence throughout Europe. Henry needed to be buried in the monk’s choir at Reading, but he kicked the bucket on a hunting trip to Normandy. His insides, brain, and eyes were buried at the priory of Notre Lady du Pre, close to Rouen, while the rest of Henry’s body was treated.
It lay in state at the Convent of St. Stephen in Caen until the weather was calm enough to permit a Channel crossing. Henry’s body was carried to Reading Abbey, sewn into a bull’s stowaway, and buried before the high altar within the nearness of his spouse, Ruler Adeliza of Louvain. The queen herself was later buried at Perusing. The site of Henry’s grave is a secret, as much of the convent has been lost under adjacent lodging. In 2016, ground-penetrating radar was used in an endeavor to find the tall holy place, where Henry is said to have been buried, but such distant endeavors have demonstrated uncertainty.
- Henry I, d. 1135
- Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
Henry IV’s tomb, Canterbury Cathedral
When St. Augustine arrived in Kent in Advertisement 597, one of his first acts was to construct a cathedral church. Augustine further served as the primary Diocese supervisor of Canterbury, and a devout community developed around his cathedral. Within the 10th century, this community was formalized as a Benedictine cloister. The sublime cathedral church we see nowadays dates to 1172 when a fire provided an opportunity to rebuild an earlier church and make a fitting sanctum for Thomas Becket, who was killed here in 1170.
Afterward, Henry IV died of a deforming malady thought presently to have been a disease. His luxuriously carved commemoration is on the north side of the Trinity Chapel and appears to be adjacent to that of his spouse, Joan of Navarre.
- Henry IV, d. 1413
- Faversham Convent/SSt Mary of Charity Church, Faversham, Kent
St. Mary of Charity, Faversham
In 1148, Lord Stephen and Ruler Matilda built a Cluniac abbey outside the town of Faversham, Kent. The king and queen, along with their child Eustace of Boulogne, were buried at Faversham Nunnery. Tragically, the abbey was destroyed during the Reconstruction, and according to tradition, the illustrious bones were tossed into Faversham Creek. The abbey foundations lie under Queen Elizabeth’s Language Structure School.
An investigation in 1964 uncovered the illustrious tombs, but they proved to be purged, maybe supporting the tradition that the bones were scattered. Another plausibility exists: a neighborhood story recommends that the bones were reburied in Faversham Ward Church when the Nunnery was suppressed. An uninscribed tomb within the church is said to be King Stephen’s, but there is no conclusive proof one way or another.
- Stephen, d. 1154
- Waltham Nunnery Church, Essex
Ruler Harold’s grave, Waltham Convent Church
Further, what happened to the remains of Lord Harold after his passing at the Fight of Hastings in 1066? We do not know, but two contradictory traditions exist, proposing that the dead Saxon lord was buried at either Waltham Convent in Essex or Bosham in West Sussex.
The case in favor of Waltham Abbey is this:
In addition, in the 1050s, Edward the Confessor gave the minister church at Waltham to Harold, his brother-in-law. Harold prayed at the sacrificial table in Waltham and was cured of an anonymous tribulation; as a result, he had the church rebuilt and expressed his wish to be buried there. On his critical walk south from Yorkshire to fight with the Normans at Hastings, Harold stopped to supplicate at Waltham. After the fight, his body was further carried back to Waltham and buried by the high altar, as he had wished. His grave had to be moved a few times over the centuries as the church was amplified, so that presently the reputed site of his tomb is outside the east conclusion of the church.
- Harold, d. 1066
- Bosham, West Sussex